Electrical station indicatoe



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

E. S. ELY. ELECTRICAL STATION INDICATOR.

No. 445,773. Patented Peb.3, 1891.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. S. ELY. ELECTRICAL STATION INDICATOR.

No. 445,773, Patented Feb.-3, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDIYIN S. ELY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO J OI-IN H. S. QUICK, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRICAL STATlON- lN DICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,773, dated February 3, 1891.

Application filed May 28, 1890. Serial No. 353,490. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN ELY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of C ock and State of Illinois,

5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Station-Indicators; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electrical station-indicators; and it consists substantially in such features thereof as will be more particularly described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

The invention has for its object to provide an electrical station-indicator for railway ms or coaches which shall enable the names of streets or stations to be successively brought to the view of passengers so as to notify them when the stations or streets for which they may be destined are reached, all as will more fully hereinafter appear when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a stationindicator embodying my improvements, the casing or box therefor being thrown open to expose interior arrangen'ient of parts. Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, showing arrangement of the electrical magnet and the armature which it attracts when the electric circuit is closed. Fig. is an enlarged view in detail of the ribbon-carrying rolls, showing how the ribbon is fastened thereto so as to be held from disconnection. Fig. a is an enlarged side view representing the connection of the lower roller with the main operating gearwheel. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view in detail of one of the rollers, and illustrating clearly the manner of fastening the ribbon thereto. Fig. (3 is an interior side view of the operative mechanism of the machine, from the construction and arrangement of which a thorough understanding of the operation will be had. Fig. 7 is a view at right angles to Fig. 6, and

showing the rollers partly broken off. Fig. 8 is a side view of Fig. 7.

In carrying my invention into effect I provide a suitable box or casing for containing the operative mechanism of my invention, the said box or casing being designed to be lo cated or arranged at one end of the car or coach in which the same may be used. l3etween the two sides of this box or casing are supported two rollers which serve between them to pay out and wind up the ribbon having thereon the names of the streets or stations occurring between the termini of the route passed over by the ear in its travel, said rollers being grooved longitudinally so as to adapt them to receive wires attached to the ends of the ribbon, and also provided with spring-holders for said wires, by which means the ribbon is prevented from becoming dctached. The rollers have their bearings in angular slots formed in the two sides of the casing, and each roller is provided at each end with a small gear-wheel. One of the gear-wheels of the lower roller meshes with a large intermediate gear-wheel which is actu-- ated to rotate through the medium of an electro-magnet, an armature, and a suitable pawl. In connection with the rollers I employ suitable mechanism for disconnecting with the main gear-wheel and forming a connection with the gears of the rollers for the purpose of enabling the ribbon to be wound back upon the roller from which it was paid out, in this way providing for a retracing of the several streets-or stations without having to reverse the rollers.

Reference being had to the several parts of the drawings by the letters marked thereon, A represents a suitable box or casing for receiving or containing the several operative devices, said box or casing being provided with a suitable door a for closing the same and enabling access to the devices, and also provided with a lower part Z) for holding the electric battery 0, said battery having suit able wire-connectors, as shown, with the coils of an electro-magnet (Z, secured to one side of the casing without. The sides of said box or casing are further formed with angular slots 6 e to receive the shafts of two rollers f f, around which is passed the ribbon or sheet 9, having thereon the names of the streets or stations, and on each end of the shafts of said rollers is carried a small gear-wheel l, the lower roll being in geared connection with a large or intermediate gear-wheel C, having an axial bearing in one side of the box or casing, as shown. to turn intermittently fora limited distance the lower roller will be caused to turn also,

thereby unwinding the ribbon from the upper roller and disclosing in successive order the names of the several streets or stations through a suitable opening formed in the side of the box or casing. The said gear-wheel O has its bearing in a vertical slot 2', formed in p the side of the casing, and loosely working in connection witlrsaid wheel at its axis is a plate or arm j, having pivoted thereto at or near its upper end a pawl 7r, that is held into engagement with the teeth of large gear 0 by means of a spring Z. The said plate or arm j connects through an arc-shaped slot on in the casingwith the upper end of an armature a, pivoted at its lower end 011 the outer side of the casing. (See Figs. 1, 2, and '7.) hen the closing of the electric circuit is effected. (which may be by a push-button or other means,) the electro-magnet, becoming energized, will attract the armature n, and in drawing said armature over, the arm or plate 7' will be carried along and the large gear moved a corresponding extent, all of which will be clearly understood from the annexed drawings. 1

For the purpose of enabling the ribbon to be wound back again upon the feed or delivery roller without taking said rollers out of their bearings and reversing them, I employ a fiat plate D,having an arm or branch 1), and formed with an arc slot 1 corresponding to and registering with the are slot in the side of the casing, so as to permit movement of said plate and not to interfere with the working of the other parts. The upper end of said plate is connected to the axis of a small gear-wheel 7', having its bearing in a curved slot sin the side of the casing, and connected to the arm or branch 19 of said plate D is a connecting-strip t, which is connected to the axis of another small gear-wheel 0', having its bearing in a vertical slot formed in the side of the casing near the bottom, the axes or shafts of said gear-wheels r and '1' each being provided with a button on the outer side of the casing so as to enable them to be turned with the hand. From this construction and arrangement it will be seen that by moving the-upper gear-wheel 'r in the curved slot in which it is held until the notch s of said slot is reached both't'he large gear 0 and the smaller-gear 1' will be lifted in the vertical slots in which they have their bear- The large gear-wheel being caused,

ings, the said gear 0 being carried away from and out of gear with the gear-wheel of the lower roller, while the said gears r and 7" will be brought into engagement with the gears in the rolls corresponding thereto. Now by turning either of the gears r or r the ribbon may be wound from one roller to the other, according to which of the gears is operated and the direction in which the same is turned. By replacing the gears r 'r, as before, the other devices for actuating the indicator will be permitted to operate in the manner hereinbefore explained.

As a means of fastening the ribbon to the roller,-I form the roller with a longitudinal groove 10, and in the end of the ribbon'E a wire as is secured by stitching orotherwise, the said wire fitting-in said groove, as best illustrated in Fig. 3. Secured to the roller at each end of the groove is a small spring-fastening y, adapted to close over the ends of the wire, and thus holdsaid wire in place. These fastenings are beyond the edges of the ribbon and therefore do not interfere with the winding of said ribbon.

In connection with the above-described devices I may employ a bell to sound a signal each time a station or street is indicated, in which case suitable wire-connections could be employed.

The names of the stations or streets are printed on both sides of the ribbon or sheet in reverse order, and in this way by simply reversing the position or arrangement of the rollers the ribbon may be brought in readiness for commencing at either end of the road or route without having to wind the ribbon from one roller to the other.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electrical station-indicator, the combination, with asuitable battery and wire connections, of a pair of operating-rolls provided with the gear-wheels, a large or main gear normally engaging one of the rollergears, the arm j, loosely working in connection with said main gear at its axis, a springoperatedpawl engaging said main gear and attached to the arm, an armature connected with said arm, and an electro-magnet adjacent to the armature, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical station-indicator, the combination, with the casing having upper curved slot 3 in its side and the vertical slot at or near the bottom thereof, of the pairof operating-rolls provided with the gear-wheels, the intermediate gear O, normally engaging with one of the roller-gears, the movable plate D, having the arm or branch 19 at its lower end and connectingat its upper end with the axis of a gear 0', which has its bearing in said curved slot 3' of the'casing, and the stript, connecting the branch 19 with the axis of a gear IIO 1'', having its bearing in said vertical slotof the easing, all designed to operate substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In an electrical station-indieator, the

5 combination, with a pair of magnets and an armature pivoted adjacent thereto, of the casing' having are slot, the large gear-wheel, the

arm for moving said wheel and attached to the upper end of the armature through the 10 slot, a pawl engaging the said gear, a pair of l l l l l rollers carrying an indicator-ribbon, and a suitable battery and WllO eonnect1ons,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN S. ELY.

\Vituesses:

CURTIS LAMMOND, GEORGE W. Ronenns. 

